Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Marvel Franchise. They belong to their rightful owners.

Chapter 31

ESCAPE

~Kyln Prison~

Everything was a blur. There were screams and shouts and yelp of pain from the background yet Loki felt as if everything was just a blur. His head was pounding and he could feel the necklace on his neck – still lying invisible from the others – felt suddenly heavy for unknown reasons. If it wasn't for the talking tree, he'd been long shot dead and was lying on the ground of Kyln.

He showed no mercy to all the guards that got in his way as they climbed up the tower. His body was rigid and tense as he pulled the trigger of the gun he was holding. From behind, he could hear the raccoon cheering as he goes.

"Now, I know what to set you off!" the rodent sneered as they climbed the tower.

"Shut it," Loki growled as Gamora pulled them up.

"What's with him?" he heard Quill whispered to Rocket from behind when he violently sliced the guard that was sitting inside the tower.

The five of his companion grimaced and Groot threw the guard out of the tower.

"Let's just say I have awakened the evilness inside him," Rocket answered as he took over of the tower's control panel.

That made Loki snapped out of his reverie as he turned around to glare at the rodent. He cursed under his breath and threw the knife he was holding. He suddenly let his guard down after Rocket saw the necklace. Why? Was he nervous that he would be found out? It was highly unlikely. But he knew Gamora knew him. Could he trust her? The only thing they have in common was their hatred for Thanos. Was that enough?

"Tell me you locked us up here for a reason?" Loki asked after some time. The important thing they have to do right now was to escape Kyln, deal with the Orbs and find out what Thanos' plans.

"Well, this is part of the plan," Peter answered as he pointed to Rocket.

"What about the Orb?" Loki asked. He turned to look at Gamora who was the only sane in the group.

"I know someone we can sell it to," she answered.

"Hold on a minute," Loki argued; his brows were scrunched in confusion. "We don't even know what it could do or why Ronan needs it."

"This is not the time to be chit-chatting about the orb. We'll sell it and that's that" Rocket pointed out as he continued to work on the controls.

"Agreed. We'll talk about it once we get out of here alive. But I do have one question," she added as she turned to glare at their newcomer who somehow managed to escape with them. "Why is this one here?" indicating Drax.

"We promised him he could stay by our side until he kills your boss. I always keep my promises, when they're to muscle-bound whack-jobs who will kill me if I don't," Quill answered as he put a prosthetic leg in front of Rocket. "Here you go."

Rocket looked startled at the sudden appearance of the prosthetic leg. With a glance at Quill, he said, "Oh, I was just kidding about that leg. I never thought you'd take it seriously."

"What?" blurted Quill in disbelief.

"No, I thought it'd be funny. Was it funny? Wait, what did he look like hopping around?" Rocket asked with interest that made Loki roll his eyes.

Behind them were legions of guards rounding up or probably planning for their demise yet here they were, yapping about a prosthetic leg.

"I had to transfer him 30,000 units!" Argued Quill to which the rodent began laughing at the statement.

"I don't even want to know where you got the units," Loki muttered in disbelief as he looked at Quill.

He opened his mouth to defend himself but was cut off when one of the guards shoot at the window making the tower vibrate violently.

"Shit," Loki cursed under his breath when he glanced at the window. A flying pod aimed its gun at them and started shooting. His arms automatically shielded his face. Thankfully, it didn't shatter like he was expecting.

"How are we going to leave this place?" the newcomer demanded impatiently.

"Well, he's got a plan. Right? Or is that another thing you made up?" Quill growled as he glared at the rodent.

Rocket, who was busy tinkering with the controls, yammered. "I have a plan! I have a plan!"

"Cease your yammering and relieve us from this irksome confinement," demanded the newcomer in annoyance.

"Yeah, I'll have to agree with the walking thesaurus on that one," commented Quill as he watched Rocket do his job.

"Do not ever call me a thesaurus," threatened by the newcomer who seemed to be offended by the joke.

Quill glanced at him in surprise. "It's just a metaphor, dude," he defended.

"His people are completely literal. Metaphors are gonna go over his head," explained Rocket as another round of bomb shook the tower. This time, the window's crack grew bigger.

"Nothing goes over my head," argued the brute. "My reflexes are too fast. I would catch it."

Loki sighed in frustration as he buried his face on his palm. On his left, he heard the only woman in their group mutter under her breath: "I'm gonna die surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy" and he couldn't help but agree.

When Loki glanced outside the window again, he saw several guards with their big guns aiming at the tower. He cursed under his breath which heard by Quill and took a peek.

"Those are some bigger guns," Quill stated in panic at the sight of a legion forming below them. "Even bigger than the ones they used to shoot at us!"

"Rodent, we are ready for your plan," Loki warned. He buried the bubbling panic that was rising in his chest.

From below, they can hear the guards shouting instructions. "On my command! Number one!" A blast hit the window and made a big crack. The tower vibrated violently at the impact making Loki backed away from the window.

"Hold on!" warned Rocket.

"Number two!"

Another blast hit Loki and Quill's side of the tower making the others stumble back also.

"I recognize this animal," commented their newcomer as he gazed at the rodent who was busy punching buttons. "We'd roast them over a flame put as children. Their flesh was quite delicious."

"Not helping!" snapped Rocket.

"Another hit and we're done for!" yelled Loki as they watched in horror. He could deflect the next hit easily with his magic but he feared that if he used that much amount of magic, Frigga would feel it. He clenched his fist tight as his mind wrack for decisions.

"Number three! All fire on my command!" shouted again the guard from below.

"One!"

Loki cursed in old Norse and moved forward. With a waved of his wrist a green mist appeared from it. He could feel the gazes of his companion as the mist surrounded the tower.

"Two!"

"Magic," Gamora muttered in awe behind him.

"Three!"

But as he was about to deflect the blast and heightened his magic to the point where Frigga could possibly find out he's alive, Rocket pushed another button and everyone and everything went afloat.

Loki lowered his hands and his magic when no blast hit the tower. Silently, he was thankful for whatever was happening. He glanced outside the window and saw everything and everyone floating.

"He turned off the artificial gravity, everywhere but in here," Gamora commented, amazed.

Rocket turned to them with a smug grin. "Told you I had a plan."

Peter grabbed Loki's shoulder for leverage when the tower shook violently as it untangled itself from its hinges. They all watched as the booster pods that were floating with the others suddenly moved forward and attached itself to the lower part of the tower.

Loki held on to whatever was near to him as the tower lurched downwards and into the exit. Everyone held on for dear life as it staggered along the halls to which it petrified those who were within it. The tower vibrated as an explosion followed their tails.

He didn't know how long it took for the tower to stop but when it did all of them stood there in silence. Shock reverberated their system as they took deep breaths either to calm their nerves down.

"That was a pretty good plan," muttered Quill out of the blue to which snapped everyone from their reveries.

Rocket turned to them with a smug grin. He opened his mouth, probably to gloat, but Loki cut him off.

"We need to move," he ordered as he pushed a button to open the tower of the tower. They rushed towards the storage area to where their belongings were located.

Loki pulled the cloak over him and with his magic, changed his clothing to his usual wear unbeknownst to the others.

"They crumpled my pants up into a ball!" wailed the rodent of their group. "That's rude! They folded yours!" he pointed at Loki who was in the middle of tying his cloak around his shoulders.

Ignoring the grumbling rodent, he turned towards the rest of the group who was busy changing still. "Alright, we need to get to that ship over there," he pointed to the orange and blue ship outside over the corner.

"That's my ship! It's the Milano!" Quill informed them.

"Rodent and I will get the ship started. Make sure you get the Orbs," Loki ordered as Rocket jogged over towards the ship with the tree on tow but then backtracked slightly.

"Wait, who made you in-charged?" he complained but nevertheless jogged to the ship.

"I'm supposed to be the captain," grumbled Quill under his breath as he continued to go over his belongings.

Loki made a dash to follow his other companions. He summoned knives from his palms and fling it over to the three rushing guards towards them and hitting them on the chest.

"Nicely shot," he heard Rocket complimented as he tinkered about around the ship. A whirring sound indicated that the engine of the ship was back to life.

"Thanks," Loki muttered as he watched from behind the raccoon.

A scowl appeared from his face when only the green lady was dashing towards the ship.

"Where the hell is Quill?" he asked at the out-of-breath Gamora.

"He said he has to take care of something and will follow soon after," she informed them. Annoyance marred her face at the thought of what transpired between her and Quill.

Loki scowled at her statement. "How is he going to get to us?" he asked.

"He declined to share that information with me," she huffed in annoyance.

Rocket groaned. "Well, screw this, then!" he growled as he began tinkering the ship to life. "I ain't waiting for some homie with a death wish. You got the Orb, right?"

"Yes—" Gamora answered but then paused as she searched the knapsack to find the Orb missing.

Loki, who was watching idly from a distance, lifted the Orb which he secretly grabbed when the two were busy. "I hope this is not the Orb you're looking for?" he asked as he inched his way to the exit.

The two stared at him, awestruck. "What do you think you're doing, man?!" cried Rocket. "We need to leave!"

Despite his short encounter with Quill, he knew that the latter trusted him.

'A flaw,' he thought to himself. Even he could not trust himself. But, then, he found himself saving his sorry ass once again.

"No," he demanded and glared at them. He flicked his wrist slightly and the Orb vanished into green mist. He raised his other hand which was holding a knife and pointed it at them. "We will wait for that monkey.

"I never thought you have a soft spot for animals," growled Gamora but nonetheless gestured for Rocket to stop the ship.

He didn't know what made him do that. Was it because Quill reminded him of Thor? They weren't very similar when it comes to physique but Quill acted rashly with everything like Thor. He annoyed him like how Thor annoyed him when they were young.

"If we don't leave now, we will be blown to bits!" warned Rocket.

Gamora and Loki were locked into a glaring contest as some parts of the Kyln prison started exploding. Neither of the two backed down as Loki gingerly put a foot outside the ship.

After what seemed to be like a forever, with everyone in the ship were on the edge as they thought of the pending doom they were about to face, Quill cried in delight.

"Yo! Start the ship now!" he shouted from a distance.

Loki lowered his knife and as the ship started to float, he offered his arm to Quill for leverage to which the latter gratefully took before the ship took off. He pulled him inside before the door closed.

"Thanks, man," Quill said, out-of-breath from running. On his other hand lay the device that he used to blackmail him into taking him to Xandar. Must've worth something to him if he'd risk his and the others live just to get it back.

Loki grunted in response as he watched as the Kyln prison exploded behind them. He turned towards Quill and the others. Was he getting soft? Then he remembered the only sole reason for that change. Would she be proud of what he had become?

A heavyweight fell on his chest when he reminisced her. He wanted nothing more than to be with her right now. He wanted to hold her in his arms and relished her soft skin on his. But alas! That can't happen anymore.

Her safety was his top priority and if it meant not being with her in this life just to save her then he would gladly do so. It's the least he could do for her for saving him from his darkness.

'Clio,' he thought. 'Would you have been happy with someone else?' The thought brought a great deal of pain in his chest. He couldn't bear to see her be with someone else.

He shook his head. First thing's first. He needed to know Thanos's plans and that will revolve around his daughter and the Orb in his keepings.

"So, where's Ultron, right now?" Banner asked after a moment of silence. "If he's waiting for us?"

Everyone was stood there, realizing the one problem they have to face. Location.

Clint took a step forward. "Sokovia," he answered. "He's got Nat there, too. She used a Cold War-era communication technique to expose her location. It was faint but that should do it."

Banner nodded in thanks.

"He got Nat?" Clio asked, surprised to hear that the Russian Spy would even get caught. A heavyweight fell on her chest at the thought of Natasha being tortured and in pain. She's family and she can't bear to lose her too.

The horror must have shown on her face when Barton shook his head. "She's fine. It's Natasha, she can handle everything or else she wouldn't be able to communicate with us," he reassured her with a smile.

Banner, then walked up to Vision, eyes blazing with determination as he glared at him. "If we're wrong about you if you're the monster that Ultron made you be..."

"What will you do?" asked Vision; no threat was evident in his tone as he glanced at everyone. Tension swirled around the room, realizing they will destroy him if something like that could ever happen.

He sighed. "I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique, and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others," he explained.

"Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So, there may be no way to make you trust me," he confided as he turned around. "But we need to go," he finished as he held up Thor's hammer and hands it to him.

Everyone stared in shock. Even the God of Thunder looked taken aback as he reluctantly grabbed his hammer back. Vision walks off as if nothing happened. Silence descended upon the group as they process what they had just seen. Clint opened his mouth to speak but no words came out and so he closed it again. Steve Rogers raised a brow at Thor and Tony turned to the God of Thunder in disbelief.

Clio, herself, couldn't believe that just happened. No one, not even Steve Rogers, had managed to lift Mjolnir and here comes an artificial body made of Vibranium with JARVIS voice and lifted it up as if it was an ordinary hammer. That just proved that Vision wasn't even lying or having ill intent.

Thor cleared his throat after some time. "Right," he muttered and then patted Stark on the shoulder. "Well done." He then proceeded to follow the new body to talk about a plan.

"Did he just-?" Clint asked but then was cut off when Steve patted his shoulder to either comfort his shock.

"Three minutes," he stated to everyone else in the room. "Get what you need."

Everyone nodded and scattered to get ready to leave. Clio grabbed the leather jacket that Natasha lend her at the Quinjet after the uproar in Germany with Loki. She sighed heavily and wore it, praying silently that they all get through this without anyone dying or injured.

She was about to walk back to the others when a thought occurred to her. She grabbed a red leather jacket before walking out of her room. When she entered the area where everyone was gathered, she walked over to Wanda who was looking anywhere but her.

"I guess you need a jacket?" she asked politely as she handed her the cloth.

Wanda stared at it for a moment before she shook her head. "I'm fine," she quickly countered and she heard Pietro sighed behind her.

He grabbed the jacket and throw it at her. "Stop being stubborn and wear it," he said and walked off.

Clio was about to do the same thing when Wanda stopped her. "I wanted to say thank you for trying to save me a while ago," she muttered under her breath. It was almost inaudible had it not been for the hearing of an Xhylorian that she possessed.

The black-haired maiden's eyes widened at her statement. "Y-You're welcome," she responded and smiled. "Let's finish this, shall we?"

Wanda gave out a small smile and nodded. The two of them walked over to the others who were busy devising a plan.

"No way we all get through this. If even one tin soldier is left standing, we've lost," Tony pointed out to Steve. "It's gonna be blood on the floor."

Steve shrugged. "I got no plans tomorrow night," he joked to which Tony grinned.

"I get the first crack at the big guy. Iron Man's the one he's waiting for," stated Tony.

Vision, who was walking past them, spoke, "That's true, he hates you the most."

All of them boarded the quinjet with Tony as the pilot. Steve handed out everyone an earpiece for communication as he gave a pep talk. Clio felt nervous all of a sudden. Despite having experienced a battle before, she couldn't help but feel anxious. She feared she'd go too far with her powers and she might mess it up. Her fingers lingered at the cool pendant on her neck. It was the only thing that had been keeping her powers at bay.

'Don't you trust yourself?' the voice sneered inside her head.

'No,' she quickly answered and shut the voice out. She didn't need to hear what else it was trying to say. It'll only double her anxiety.

"Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire, and that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So, our priority is getting them out," Steve said and nodded to Pietro, Clio, and Wanda. "The three of you, with the powers you possessed, will go to where most people are at. Get them out, quickly. Try not to cause panic."

The three nodded in agreement. Steve turned to Banner. "Banner, your priority is to find Natasha. The rest of us will try and find out what's Ultron's been building and at the same try to evacuate the others," he ordered.

"All they want is to live their lives in peace, and that's not going to happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. Keep the fight between us. Ultron thinks we're monsters and we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."

Once the quinjet landed, everybody scattered to their own missions. Clio rushed over with the twins when Tony, who was wearing the Iron Man suit, flew passed her.

"Be careful!" he called out before he flew around the city.

"You too," she muttered worriedly as she caught up with the twins.

The three of them went to the center of the city. The sun was just about to rise. Few people were on the streets going to school or going to work, some were staring at them with a curious look. People were probably getting ready for the day, not knowing this could be their last.

"I'll try to get the police to involve to help us," Pietro informed them to which they nodded in agreement. He rushed at top speed forward, leaving the two of them behind.

"I'll try to enter their minds to persuade them to evacuate," Wanda offered as she started using her powers.

"Okay. I'll go to the schools and hospitals then," she offered but then stopped by Wanda.

"They might not believe you because you're an American. Try to get most of them near me and I'll enter their minds," Wanda suggested.

With a heavy sigh, Clio nodded. she dashed towards the other side of the city that was not yet covered up by the others. She couldn't do manipulation but she had to try to at least convince them.

She entered a building that looked like a school. 'So, how do I do this?' she thought to herself. 'Gather them up first?'

With a nod, she grabbed a broom from a closet and started banging the lockers outside the classroom. "Everybody, get out now!" she yelled when teachers and students poke their heads out of the classroom. "Evacuate the city now! I repeat, evacuate the city!"

"Hey you, stop causing a ruckus or we'll call the police!" one of the teachers threatened with his heavy Sokovian accent, making Clio stopped in her tactics.

'Okay, that didn't go as plan,' she thought.

"Sir, you don't understand. The city is currently being targeted. We need to flee right now," she persuaded. Her words made a stir from some teachers and students who were watching the scene but no one dared to move.

The teacher who she was talking to glared harder. "Oh, no. I know that accent. You're an American," he accused, pointing a finger in her direction. "You, Americans, are the reason why we keep suffering. You think Sokovia is your battleground?"

Clio rose her brows in surprise. "What? This is not the time for you to be pointing fingers! The city is in danger!"

"Get out of here!" he yelled making Clio take a step back.

'What now?' she thought as she clenched her fist around the broom she was holding. 'Their minds are closed. They're afraid.'

'Then they should be,' sneered the voice. 'If you can't persuade them with your words, then use the fear inside them.'

'What? I was told not to cause any panic!'

'A panic which will vanish once they entered the center where the witch can manipulate their minds. I thought you were smarter than this?' the voice said in annoyance.

Clio bit her lip. She knew that from the beginning when Wanda offered her help. But she figured that maybe she could do it without any help from the others; without lifting an ounce of her powers.

'Why can't you just accept the fact that you have your own powers? It had been a part of you ever since you were born. It was suppressed by something which I could not figure out what. I was just the catalyst to reopening it.'

"Well?" the teacher prompted. "Get out of here before I'm going to be the one to throw you out!"

When she didn't budge, the teacher sighed and walked forward.

'Screw this,' she thought as she threw the broom on the floor and with a small portion of aura on her fist, she slammed it over the locker giving it huge damage to the point where the wall made a few cracks and unto the ceiling.

She waved her hands around her and black aura started pooling out from under her feet. Using her powers still made her feel uneasy and she cringed as the familiar sinister aura swirled around her.

"Get out now," she growled as she summoned energy on her palm and slammed it back to the locker room, shattering it.

Screams and shout soon followed after. Everyone inside scrambled out of the school and into the center of the city. She used an energy boost from her hand to make her float. She, well, terrorized the people towards the Wanda who glanced in surprise at the sudden rush of people.

Wanda turned to her with a raised brow.

"They don't want to listen to me," Clio defended when she landed next to her. "And you said that I should get them to you, remember?"

Wanda shrugged her shoulder and smirked. "That's fair enough," she replied then pointed at the opposite side of the town. "Cap and Hawkeye need a helping hand."

"Okay," she replied and dashed off.

"Hurry!" she shouted over to the throng of people.

Clio tried to squeeze herself past the people who were rushing to evacuate.

"Damn," she grunted when a burly man bumped her shoulder almost knocking her off. A vein almost popped on her forehead when another one bumped into her. "Be careful!" she growled at the man who stuttered his apologies.

'Losing your temper in the middle of a crowd may not be the best idea,' the voice pointed.

"I know that," she growled under her breath. 'Why are you suddenly reminding me? Isn't that what you want?' she snapped.

The voice was quiet for a moment. 'Who said that's what I want? You don't even know what I truly want,' it sneered.

'Shut up,' she snapped again as she finally got passed the throng of people.

Just as she was about to pass a coffee shop, An old man fell down the ground, wheezing. The old woman with whom he was with tried to make him stand but to no avail. Clio's heartache as she rushed over to them. The old woman glanced at her in surprise, her widened eyes held fear as she stared at her.

"Hey, hey, I got him. It's okay," she assured as she pulled the old man on her shoulder. "Let's go."

"Thank you," the wife replied in relief as they pushed their selves out of the crowd.

She rushed towards an old Chevy and knocked on its window. The window was pulled down and revealed a woman, her eyes panic at the sight of her.

"Hi," she greeted and tried to smile. "Is there a room inside? Can you accommodate two more?" she asked in a rushed voice.

The woman nodded, fearing for whatever was happening right. She opened the back door and saw a child sleeping in the baby seat. Clio let the older woman sat next to the baby and she opened the passenger seat for the old man. She closed the door and smiled at them.

"Be careful. Get away as much as you can from the city, alright?" she said and when they nodded, she took a step back.

"Thank you for helping us. Please be careful," he said sincerely to which surprised Clio.

Her heart warmed and she could feel her eyes starting to water. She was just being feared a while ago by these people and now they were wishing for her to be careful.

But before she could nod in answer, the ground shook and vibrated from under her feet. Her eyes widened in horror when a suit appeared below the car and lifted it up.

Screams echoed from inside the car as Clio tried to stop the suit. She summoned a huge amount of energy from her palm and blasted off the suit. The car propelled down to the ground as she tried to summon the energy to lessen their fall but was not avail.

Before the car could hit the ground, a red aura gathered around it and levitated from the air before gently laying it on the ground.

Clio turned around, grateful to see Wanda breathing heavily.

"Go, now!" she ordered the driver to which she nodded and hurled the car forward.

With a sigh, Clio turned to Wanda. "Thank you," she said.

Wanda stared at her for a moment. "You get too attached easily. That's your flaw," her newfound mutant friend pointed out surprising Clio for a bit.

"I-I... W-What?" Clio stammered.

"Duck!" Wanda warned and without a second thought, Clio duck just in time for a red wave of energy passed over her head.

When she turned around she saw a suit of armor broken and fell on the ground.

"And you easily lose focus," Wanda added before dashing off to the others.

Clio glared at her back when she recovered. "Thanks for pointing that out," she muttered under her breath and blasted a suit that was aiming at Wanda. She could hear the voice inside her head laughing at her expense.

Couldn't this day get any more thrilling?

A/N: Hey, guys! As promised, here's the next chapter! Please leave a review of what you think about it. Thank you!